VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 30, 2015) - May brings skin cancer into focus, as it is Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness Month. To support this global health initiative, the Save Your Skin Foundation, a Canadian based not-for-profit, dedicates this month to increasing public awareness of the importance of prevention and early detection.

Prevention plays an essential role. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is the main cause of skin cancer. UV radiation can also come from tanning beds, which must be avoided. Save Your Skin Foundation will be posting daily sun safety tips during May on its websites and social media and will be hosting a webinar on skin cancer prevention and early detection - date to be announced in early May. The Foundation will also launch a social media contest on Melanoma Monday (May 4^th).

Early detection increases survival. When melanoma is found and treated early, the chances of successful treatment are increased. The Save Your Skin Foundation will spread the word about self-skin checking and skin screenings available in Canada. Also, Save Your Skin supports the "Become a Skin Checker" campaign by La Roche-Posay, which will launch in Toronto on May 4th (Melanoma Monday).

A great event for a great cause: To support Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness Month, the Save Your Skin Foundation's annual fundraiser will take place on May 21^st at the Media Club in Vancouver. This event is a benefit concert and silent auction to raise funds and awareness for skin cancer. All proceeds will go to the Foundation to support those touched by this disease. Tickets are already on sale - for more information, visit www.saveyourskin.ca.

About Melanoma in Canada

In its late stages, the average life expectancy for melanoma is just six months, with a one-year survival rate of only 25 percent, making metastatic melanoma one of the most aggressive forms of cancer and one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. An estimated 6,500 Canadians will be diagnosed with melanoma this year and 1,050 will die from it. Melanoma is responsible for 70 percent of deaths associated with skin cancer.

About Melanoma Survivorship in Canada

One of the new words in the melanoma vocabulary is survivorship. It's a word that only ten years ago was hardly achievable but today is used more and more with a disease that is often considered terminal. When the Save Your Skin Foundation was created in 2006 the mission was simple: to provide a source of information and hope for patients. This year that mission has been expanded and a new chapter has been added - survivorship - through an initiative called I'm Living Proof.

I'm Living Proof 's purpose is to give that hope to patients, regardless of where they are at in the disease. The Save Your Skin Foundation launched the initiative through the first ever melanoma survivorship video, which was played to delegates in Whistler, B.C., at the 9^th Canadian Melanoma Conference. During Melanoma Month, the I'm Living Proof microsite and survivorship awareness campaigns will roll out over social media. The program provides support, resources, and a network for survivors. "I'm Living Proof is a dream come true for anyone who has ever been told to 'go home and get your affairs in order' because the odds are against you," says Kathy Barnard, an 11-year survivor of melanoma. "This program is about hope and the knowledge that there are others out there who have been diagnosed with advanced melanoma and who are living their lives, and for those of us who are survivors, we are living proof of that."

This milestone follows on the heels of Save Your Skin Foundation's first-ever Canadian melanoma survivorship meeting that took place late last year with survivors from across Canada who came together in two Canadian cities. Please visit www.saveyourskin.ca for more information.

About the Save Your Skin Foundation

The Save Your Skin Foundation is a national not-for profit organization dedicated to the areas of skin cancer and skin disease with a focus on education and awareness, supporting research and ensuring equal and timely access to treatment for all Canadians. Please visit www.saveyourskin.ca for more information.